Let's talk about change!

Hey guys!
So today I had a class about change and this made me think about how to really start changing, up till now whenever I tried to make changes I ended up stopping the process after a few days or just didn't really start at all.

Here is the thing, people don't like change. We have our daily routine with a certainty of a specific outcome, there might be some small differences on days but mainly its the same thing. When changing you are stepping out of your comfort zone, by doing this you will lose the certainty of a specific outcome which will feel uncomfortable to most people. When we look at the actual mind to heart/feeling rate with change it will show you that only 20 -40 percent has to do with the mind. The other 60-80 percent has to do with your heart/feelings. This also explains why it's hard to actually change when other people tell you to do so. For example when a doctor tells you to lower your sugar intake you might think I will try it. But the feeling I get when I eat sweets weights more than the doctor telling me to stop it. However, once I start considering all the disadvantages that might come with it, such as diabetes or gaining weight etc, the sad feeling of that will come with it. And once you are able to weigh the advantages of changing something over the disadvantages, you will be able to actually start changing. When you aren't convinced that the outcome of changes will be better for you, there is almost a 100% chance that you will fail at making the changes.
A good way to start making changes is follow this process:
- Evaluate your current situation,missions and goals
- See your problems and the things you might need to change
- Define new goals. (Write them down so that you can keep better track of them)
- Formulate a new strategy ( how are you planning to achieve your goals make a schedule for example if your planning to start losing weight or want to pass a specific exam)
- And implement the new strategies (try to set a specific date to start or start today, but don't say I will do it tomorrow because once you say that you will start pushing it forward each day)
Another big obstacle when wanting to change is the fear of negative aspects of the actual change. And like I said before the uncertainty in the lack of information about future events. 

To get a win win situation : bring people with the same goals together. This way you can support each other in the changing process and even learn some new tricks. Find friends in real life or on forums etc. to start changing with together. Whenever you have a day you don't feel like it anymore you can get support from that person and might get motivated again. This can be of good use in all kinds of changes for example when you want to get a healthier lifestyle or want to start focussing more on school. With the help of others you may even find new tricks that you would have never thought of by yourself. 

There are 2 types of changing processes:

1. Start changing everything at once. 

2. Slowly start with the changing process. 

For example losing weight and getting healthier might be the goal 

1. You start today with a long work out, no cookies or unhealthy food anymore, eat small portions today.(disadvantages: you might stop after 1 day or 2 days cause it's to much of a change all at once and can't keep up with it)

2. You start with slowly making your portions smaller each day, start with a small work out of only 15 min. The next day you will try and make it 20 min and try to eat some healthier snacks instead of all the cookies etc. ( people are more likely to keep up with this because your slowly getting used to it. Disadvantages might be that it will sometimes take longer to see results)

Everybody has their own way of making changes so the one that works the best for you is the one you should go with. 

There also is another model made by John Kotter which shows you the exact steps of change (this model focuses on company changes but, in my opinion, it can also be applied to your normal life): 

Step 1. Sense of urgency ( look what's going wrong now, come up with advantages of change and disadvantages when u don't change )

Step 2. Form Powerful coalition (start telling other people to get a bigger group of supporters )

Step 3. Create clear vision future outcomes ( outcome is unclear, people don't wanna change so try and look up the advantages that will be there when you will reach your goal for example get a better job if you pass all your exams and graduate)

Step 4. Communicate this vision

Step 5. Empower others to act according vision (remove barriers ) ( remove people who are against the change!! dont try to convince them, and put people in good positions who are willing to help you change)

Step 6. Celebrate visible short term success (be happy you reached your goals and you can for example give yourself a specific reward once you reached your goal) 

Step 7. Consolidate improvements 

Step 8. Support the 'new behavior' (don't go back to your old behavior) 

Lastly here is my own plan for change.

I am currently working on becoming more healthier and lose some weight in the progress as well and this is how I'm doing it:

- asked myself why: I am doing this because I want to feel more confident and lower my chance on diabetes and get more energy.

- I wrote down my goal: how much I want to lose and when 

- I started making a little schedule: when I can work out and how often

- Told my family and friends about it: this way they can help support me and can go work out together sometimes.

- I log all the food I eat and exercises I do in a special app to keep track of my progress and to see where I go wrong.

- If people tell my I don't have to lose weight I take it as a compliment and don't try to convince them on why I think I should get more in shape and healthier.

- set my reward: Didn't do this yet but i will come up with something, and being able to go to the beach a bit more confident will already be a great reward J

This was my look on change and I hope you guys like it and give me your opinion on how you look at change and/or what you might wanna change in your life. 

X Esther